One Shot
by PinkLeoLove
Summary: What happens when one of fiction's greatest couple experiences the greatest loss? This story picks up right at the end of Book 1 and introduces a painful but provoking twist. This is a shade of fifty we haven't seen before. (AU) (MA)
1. Chapter 1

Something is not right. I thought it was the deal with Formosa, the water company we've been in negotiations with for well over ten months to bring clean drinking water to three remote Sub-Saharan African villages. Their CEO Lee Teo Hahn abruptly cancelled our meeting to finalize the specs for installation set to begin next week. In the last five years I've learned you can feed the poor but if they don't have clean drinking water they still die. I know Hahn is angling for more money out of the deal, Taylor already apprised me of his shady dealings and his penchant for high stakes gambling. But I'm certain I can keep the deal on track, even if I have to use a few unconventional tactics. Then Ros mentioned we have a major problem with one of my most loyal financial analyst, Richard Jenna. By 9am tomorrow the whole world will know about some mistakes Richard made as a young stock broker, but I have my legal team working an immunity deal for him with the SEC. I thought it was the absence of my assistant. She never takes time off but she's been out all week helping her sister-in-law care for the kids as her brother had his long awaited kidney transplant. But the office is a well oiled machine, it's not that...Anastasia. Her name floats like a delicious fragrance lingering in the air. She continues to be the most off thing about my entire existence. She hasn't been to Escala all week. Why hasn't she come back? I know she's safe because Barney gives me a daily update from the surveillance cameras I had installed in her building. Barney said she hadn't altered her routine all week straight to work then right back to her apartment. I wanted to go to her to beg her to come back. She's the difference, with her Escala felt like more than a spacious well appointed cage. With Anastasia everything was different. Even I was different, better, cured...Grey don't even go there that rabbit hole, holds nothing good, and honestly I don't truly deserve good not after what I did to her. I'm worst than the monsters I've hated all these years. I took the one beautiful different good thing in my life and in one night irreparably broke her. I deserved every wrong thing life could do to punish me. I deserved to be punished...if I could just...Business, I have to focus on business. People will begin to think I enjoy running a circus, the sick secret to any circus is the lie everyone tells themselves that you can tame a wild beast. I knew different once a beast, always a beast. I need everything under control again. My work is never off, I'm always in control. That one fact has kept me at the top of my field all these years. It wouldn't fail me now. I have absolutely no more patience for all these unscheduled events and other people's personal conflicts. I've got to get things back under control. I never could control Anastasia,not fully. She gave herself to me so willingly, so beautifully physically, but never her mind. I never quite knew what was going on in that beautiful, complicated, brilliant mind of hers. While it drove me batshit crazy, a small part of me enjoyed her independent thinking. She is my ultimate aphrodisiac. I could almost hear the delicious sound we made every time I plunged deep into her always wet for me depths...dammit any more thoughts like this and my erection would burst through my trousers. I'd been without her for five days but it felt like an eternity. I physically ached for her, and that was different. This is exactly why I chose contracts over relationships... until Ana...she made me want to do so many things I'd never done before but with her they never seemed so difficult. Now breathing felt difficult, thinking of her causes weird constrictions in my chest. In fact ever since she walked out of Escala I hadn't taken one solid deep breath. Life felt shallow and I was more convinced than ever something was not right. Ring!

"GREY" I say more forcefully into the receiver than I intended. The sound of my ever affectionate mother's voice responds. Unaffected by my terse greeting she brightly begins to inquire about my evening plans and the possibility of having Anastasia and I join her for an early dinner. Mother has always possessed a bottomless reserve of patience and persistence where I am concerned. Realizing she doesn't deserve my clipped responses nor wanting her to know how I'd fucked up any hope of her ever seeing Anastasia again I respond to her inquiries while cleverly evading her bigger question. "My apologies mother, Anastasia is tied up and unavailable to join us tonight." Suddenly my mind transports me to the beautiful portrait my Ana presented that night tied up in my playroom that's indelibly etched in my mind for eternity, only to be crushed by the superimposing image of her beautiful porcelain face streaked with tears as the elevator doors slammed shut on my one chance at... "I'm sorry mother what did you say?" My face settles into a pained expression as I listen to mother attempt to negotiate dinner with me, tonight. Were they tears of anger or pain? I shake my head to dislodge the memories, questions,and judgments. I feel like crap and would rather spend the evening watching video footage of Anastasia walking to and from work. At least this daily routine assuages my constant need to storm to her apartment and rip the door off the hinges, barely. Instead I agree to a dinner. I promise myself I won't indulge my mother's fascination with Anastasia. But part of me wants to keep this brief fleeting Anastasia experience alive a bit longer. She's mine and I want to believe she really is just tied up but coming home to Escala, to me, soon. But I sense the pretense of keeping us coupled in my mothers eyes might be my demise. Saying her name aloud already has the power to cripple me. It doesn't help that Anastasia has quickly become my mother's favorite topic of discussion and her newest attempt to cure me of what she deems the last barrier to me living a happy life. It's sad mother won't accept I'm a lost cause. There is no happy for me. All the doctors pronounced me a case for which there is no cure. I've always known even before the diagnosis there was no fix for me. I know mother believes Anastasia is the elusive missing ingredient to the cure she'd sought all these years. Perhaps, but if that were even remotely true we will never know, because true to form I completely fucked it up...like always.

"We're here Sir." Taylor's announcement jars me out of my thoughts. Suddenly realizing we'd just arrived at Seattle General and I'd spent the entire ride thinking of her. I'm going to make a piss poor dinner companion tonight, but mother will forgive me, like always. I still don't know why mother tries so hard to get close to me. I assume she is working under some fairytale notion that her love alone can turn a beast into a human again and I will one day return that emotion. The grave fault in her master plan is I will always stay far enough away and detached enough for her to never see the truth. I'll never be worthy of her love, and I can't return what I don't have. I will not stay long, I'll tell her I have some important business matter that just came up, running a multi-billion dollar company has got to come in handy for something.

As I round the corner to the hall leading to mother's office I hear it, one shot.

I exchange a quick glance with Taylor and without saying a word he unsheathed his gun and takes the lead as we both run in the direction of my mother's office. As we turn the corner Taylor suddenly stops. If not for my excellent coordination and complete aversion to touching other humans I would have run directly into his back. I look around Taylor's shoulder and see the most foreign yet familiar sight, my mother lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood. Going against two decades of training myself to refrain from touch I dive to the floor and gather what has already become my mother's lifeless body in my arms. It's all happening again. I'm four years old with a dead mother, again. They've turned me back into a helpless ashtray all over again. But this time no one will save me...I better not let her go. Holding her tight in my arms I have my last coherent thought, no one will hurt my mother again.

There is so much noise and commotion going on but I can't hear anything. All I know is my saving grace, my mother is dead,again. Hours pass or maybe minutes but I can't seem to let her go. They keep coming to hurt her, but not this time. I won't let them hurt my mommy ever again. No, not again. This cannot be happening again. I yell for a blanket these idiots don't realize she's just cold, I need to warm her up. I'm bigger now I can fix this. I will keep her warm. How much fucking money do I have to give someone to get a goddamn blanket! At some point a blanket appears, good, now I can wrap her up. I'll do it just like those breezy fall evenings she would curled up in her favorite Adirondack chair with her cream cashmere coverlet and her favorite romance novel. I'd look on watching the breeze catch her hair. I was so quiet she wouldn't even know I was there watching until I feel asleep in that same position. She loves those stupid books, and I'd sneak and read them sometimes full of those perfect people and their perfect love. I would make it just like those days. I find myself rocking mommy in my arms keeping her warm and then someone touches me. I know they are touching my back because I feel it burning through my clothes like a searing hot brand on my skin. But they won't stop and the pain multiples dimensionally. Then from far away I hear the blood curdling scream of a little boy...only belatedly realizing it's me.


	2. Chapter 2

As I round the corner I am completely caught off guard when I see what I know to be Dr. Grey's lifeless body lying on the floor. When you've seen death as much as I have you don't even have to check for a pulse, you just know. But before I could stop him, the boss sees her. He dives to the floor inevitably checking for what I know he won't find. They always have hope. All I can think is who did this and how quickly can I get my hands on them? Dr. Grey is, was, is one of the best most selfless humans I've ever met. My senses hike into overdrive. My training clicks on without any thought on my part, it's my reflex. After surveying the area and realizing we are out of immediate danger, I turned to the task before me. I radio Welch to inform him what is going on and that I need some extra men down at the hospital and one on the way to Mr. and Dr. Grey's home immediately. He said he'd send Luke to their home. Ryan, Reynolds, and Prescott would report directly to Seattle General. I email Barney to conduct a virtual grab of Seattle General's security footage and that of the immediate surrounding area. I know I've got to protect the boss because right now he isn't doing so well. Hell he looks like he has finally lost it. I make one final call to Mr. Carrick informing him that Charlie Tango is on route to his home for him and Miss Mia. I cannot tell him over the phone so I will make it brief, "Mr. Carrick, Taylor speaking Charlie Tango is in route to your home and should be there in 5 minutes to pick Miss Mia and yourself up." I immediately hang up before he can ask me any questions. We need to catch the bastard or bastards responsible for this. Their day of reckoning is coming. Dr. Grey has always been so kind. I silently vow vengeance as my last act of service to Dr. Grey. The more pressing concern to me now, will the Boss hold up. He's worst than I've ever seen him and watching him implode after Miss Steele left was tough, but this is...

Death doesn't affect me like it use to but something about this one is different. I know Welch will have backup down here as fast as humanly possible but for now I keep my eyes on the Boss and Dr. Grey. This is the only way I can help him now. He seems disconnected, like he is somewhere far away. I won't let anyone gawk at him, he hates that shit. Not like this. I clear the immediate area. It's amazing how quickly people obey a man with a gun. Once the perimeter is clear I check back. He is still not responding to any questions and he won't let Dr. Grey go. I purpose to let them stay right where they are until he is ready, ready to let go. This man has lost more than anyone should in one lifetime, he deserves a goodbye. I get a follow up call from Luke saying they are onsite but cannot get to us. Eleven minutes and one very curt phone call to the police commissioner later and they are on the way up. In the meanwhile I've sent the nearest orderly to fetch a blanket for the Boss and Dr. Grey. You'd think these bumbling idiots had never seen blood a day in their life.

Within moments I hear a noise at the end of the hall and look up to see Mr. Carrick and Miss Mia heading our way. They both look like they have hope, and now I have to snatch that away. I brace myself to deliver news no one ever wants to bear.

Meanwhile the Boss has wrapped Dr. Grey in the blanket and began rocking her. Just as I am turning my full attention back to the approaching Greys, and preparing to extinguish the flicker of hope I see kindling in their eyes a blood curdling scream rips through the eerie silence of the hospital hallway. With one sound my Boss bears the burden of the news I'd prepared to tell. I hear walking turn to running but I'm momentarily paralyzed because I've heard that scream before. It's the unmistakable sound of hopelessness. His scream abruptly turns to a panicked mumble as he repeats one despair stricken phrase that literally leaves me raw, I can't fix this. Mr. Carrick looks from the fallen form of his wife and son to me for confirmation of this heinous outcome. And with my nod he seems to age before my very eyes. He begins moving as if every motion pains him. He crumples to his knees next to Christian, flailing out his arms to grasp his wife's body like a lifesaver for a drowning man. I registered Miss Mia collapsed somewhere between turning the corner and hearing the Boss' panicked scream. She would have hit the ground like a sinking stone if Luke hadn't caught her. This is officially a mess. This is also the most inopportune moment for me to realize a life altering truth; I care a great deal for the Grey family.


	3. Chapter 3

I just received the most cryptic call of my life. Taylor, head of security for Christian, just hung up. I'm still trying to piece together what he said. Why did Taylor call? In all the years Taylor has worked for Christian I've never spoken with him on the phone. That'd be odd to some, but in the Grey family we'd always had our fair share of unusual. I found comfort in the unusual. We are a beautiful patchwork quilt of a family held together by the fierce love of my Gracie. Who if left to her own devices would have easily added at least another five kids and three pets to our little world. It normally started with a call from my Gracie after leaving some horrific site. I could hear her now, Cary you absolutely have to see them, twins Cary how could someone hurt twins? It's one of the things that drew me to her this ginormous heart of hers, her absolute conviction that love could heal any wound, and her legs. My Gracie has legs that beg to be wrapped around you. After all these years I still get turned on by seeing her do her little strut in heels. In fact every year for the last twenty years I bought her a new pair of fuck me heels on her birthday. Hey the woman has a walk that turns heads young and old. I'm a blessed man. I'm still surprised she chose me, she loves me, she fixed me. And now she needs me.

I snap back to reality and call for Mia again. This is not an odd thing it normally takes three calls and a threat to get her downstairs. I call for Mia to come downstairs and inform her we need to head to the hospital. As usual my darling girl is going a mile a minute asking questions in multiple languages that I have no answers to. I call Gracie to see if she can inform me what is going on. She keeps a much better handle on the details when it comes to the kids, but her phone keeps going to Voicemail. At this point I am flying in this situation blind. Mia I will leave you, Christian's sending Charlie Tango and you know how badly I've wanted to ride in it. "You're lying dad,Christian never lets anyone ride in...," her sassy retort is cut short by the sound of the blades lowering the helicopter in our back yard. We don't have an actual helipad and it sounds like the pilot is doing some smooth maneuvering. Come on Mia I yell up the steps, this is urgent. Although as the words leave my mouth I wonder for the hundredth time what is so urgent Christian needed to airlift us there. A thought takes hold. Maybe Gracie was right and my boy and the lovely Ms. Anastasia Steele are getting married, I'm sure Gracie would demand we all be present. A fleeting thought of Elliot being snatched from a beach and dumped near an altar complete with board shorts and boogie board has me muffling a laugh. As I walk to the kitchen toward the back door an eerie whisper sends a shiver down my back. Getting drafty, I make a mental note to change the thermostat settings. Gracie doesn't like to be cold. I turn the handle, open the door, look into what can only be described as intentionally blank stare of Luke and I immediately know we are not going to a wedding.

As Luke rushes us through police tape at the hospital I realize we are headed into the direction of Gracie's office. I am really confused now because while I'd ruled out the wedding idea this is beginning to feel like something very bad. Now I'm thinking there must be some sort of hostage crisis. If they are letting us in they must want something from us. I decide in that moment I will pay whatever ransom is required to save my family. As we turn the corner I hear it,that familiar sound that has secretly hunted the walls of my home for many years. That sound confirms someone is touching my son. He has lost control and someone is hurting him. I break into a sprint. I can just make out my boy on the floor holding someone. Is that Anastasia? Then I see the beautiful sandy brown tresses, oh dear God no! Christian and Grace need me. Mia falls behind my long strides and in seconds I'm upon it. The scene I will never be able to scrub out of my brain for as long as I have breathe in my body. I was prepared to pay, beg, even trade places. I was not prepared for what I am seeing. This cannot be true. I look at Taylor and the look he gives me says it all. With one nod my entire universe shatters. My Gracie is gone. I feel the gravitational pull of the earth shift. Suddenly all is wrong in the world and everything is upside down. Is there nothing I can do to bring her back? Surely a surgery, some transplant, this is a hospital dammit! Perhaps she just needs CPR, I grasp for her like my own life depends on it. It does. As I stroke her still silky tresses and feel her cold forehead...Gracie hated being cold. I'd give anything to bring her back, including my own life.

Pull it together Grey! I feel water lapping down my cheeks, a river with no seeming end. Christian looks catatonic mumbling something I can't make out. As I hold her beautiful form willing life to her limbs her voice floats through my head like a summer breeze. They need you now Cary. Had I not already been on my knees the sound of the whispered thought would have been my undoing. Instead I find the strength to stand. You're right Gracie now is not the time to lose it. We will have an eternity to say goodbye, for that's about how long it will take me to begin to let you go. Every part of my body hurts as if I've been in a physical altercation, but I know grieving is not an option for me in this moment. My family needs me to be strong. Gracie would want me to care for the children. Gracie always took such great care of the children, how could I? Who will would care for them now? As I look around I fear none of us will ever recover from this. I realize now Mia has fainted, Elliot still has no idea what has taken place, and Christian well my boy was going to be the hardest to help. Gracie would disappointed in me if I just sat here crying while our baby boy reverted back into the shell she spent years loving him out of. So I have no other choice than to be the rock. Because as always Gracie is right, they need me.


	4. Chapter 4

I roll my eyes for the third time since this call began. No Lily I keep telling you Christian is not going to ask you to the charity masquerade ball. He already has a date because he has a girlfriend. I'm not lying he is dating and it is VERY serious. My mom expects a wedding any day now. No, Elliot will not be here, he's out of town. No not with some bimbo, he's in Barbados with his valedictorian girlfriend. Vous me ennuyeux! I suddenly realize even my inner dialogue is still in French. Christian was right. Just the other night he had to remind me of my multilingual faux pas at dinner. Regardless my sentiments remain the same, even in English, Lily is boring me. Next topic please! Lily I interrupt her incessant almost obsessive interest in my brother. Let's talk about the really pressing matters, like what are we wearing to the ball? Mom promised she'd take off so we could make a day of our preparations for the ball. With Christian's generous offer to purchase my ball gown as a welcome home gift I'm thinking a haute couture original. I may have to finagle an extra day of fittings with mom in order to get the dress of my dreams. But fashion takes sacrifice. Not that I'll tell her anytime soon but Mom has effortless style. She really would fit in beautifully with all the glamorous Parisian women I met in my time away. Maybe the time she spent with dad honeymooning there when they were young really shaped her style. Either way she is flawless without much effort. I've secretly hoped for years I could become half the woman Dr. Grace Trevelyan Grey already is. Realizing she won't be stopped I end the call quickly. Hey Lily I'll have to call you back, my dad is summoning me downstairs.

"Yes daddy you called me."

Mia I have been calling you for at minute now.

"Daddy, can I help that you and mom bought this huge house and I did not hear you right away."

Well Mia you know I am not opposed to downsizing my darling girl.

"Let's not get dramatic daddy I am only kidding. What is going on?"

We need to head to the hospital.

"Pourquoi sommes-nous allés à l'hôpital" Why are we headed to the hospital? "Vous êtes papa malade?" Are you sick dad?

"What is going on?"

Christian's sending Charlie Tango and you know how badly I've wanted to ride in it. "You're lying dad, Christian never lets anyone ride in...," OMG! OH MY GOD are you serious is that what I think it is? Let me go get my purse and phone I will be right back down. DO NOT LEAVE ME! I yelled as I rushed up the steps.

Mia I will leave you if you are not back down in two minutes flat this is serious.

My mind is rolling with questions. Why would Christian send Charlie Tango? What is going on? Has my big brother finally lost it? Did Ana convince Christian to let us ride Charlie Tango? I knew there was a reason I liked Ana, she's going to be so good for my big brother. Mom loves her too. Elliot is going to be so mad that he missed this while in Barbados. I can't wait to I rub it in his face.

"Okay dad I'm coming down."

The sound of the helicopter blades do nothing to drown out my thoughts. I still have no idea what is going on all I know is that I am in Charlie Tango and we're headed to the hospital. I hope it's nothing serious but dad looks so serious, keeps punching messages out on his phone, and his eyes looked glassed over like he knows something bad is happening. I try to prepare myself for anything. Finally I can't take the silence anymore so I speak into the headset attached to the device that's going to leave my tresses with helmet hair.

"Dad what do you think this is, I just talk to mom like two hours ago and she said she was having an early dinner with Christian." It's as if my words brake his trance. He looks at me as if I know something. His voice comes across crystal clear through my helmet.

You spoke to Gracie? I keep trying to get her but she's not answering my calls to texts. He looks at me then and grabs my hand. Everything will be fine my darling girl. His smile gives me the distinct impression he's trying to convince more than me. He starts up again. I am surprised he didn't talk his way out of dinner with Gracie. Your mom seems to think this new relationship might spook him. I think she's empty nesting too. It's rare these days to have you kids in the same city or country for that matter, at the same time. Christian may be a CEO but nobody gets their way better than your mom. If she wants us together she will find a way.

I relax slightly, this probably is a momma bear thing. We all talked about mom's keen sixth sense for knowing what we need. She's not pushy, per se, but she just always knows. Her timing is impeccable and her ability to cuddle without smothering brought me through some of the darkness days of my life.

"Dad mom and I were talking last night about Christian and Ana. She said she thinks Ana was the other half of Christian like you are to her. She saw something come alive in Christian both times she saw him with Ana. She thinks he is in love and just doesn't know it yet."

Mia you know your mom is the hopeless romantic, right? But on the subject of future plans...now that my darling daughter cannot run away from me, what are your plans now that you are back at home from Paris?

Dad to be honest I'm not sure. I love cooking and it is something I am passionate about but when I was in Paris being a chef, it so, so... It's such a male dominated field and I don't know if I can live with all the backstabbing that comes with it. People were sabotaging my dishes and others said I did not belong or hadn't earned my place there, that I was only there because my family has money and bought me one of those coveted spots. So I think I just need time to recover from the whole experience. I just want to be home with you and mom for now.

Mia whatever you need you do know your mom and I will always be there to support you and push you toward your goals.

I know. So dad what do you think about Ana?

The helicopter began its descent just then.

Dad winked at me, like he use to do when I was younger and he told me he loved his boys but I was his heart, his darling girl. Let's talk about that a little later, he said. Let's go see you mom.

I expected a bump as we came to rest on the familiar roof of Seattle General. The pilot, Sawyer, must be as talented as he is cute because it felt as smooth as driving into a garage. Perhaps I can convince Christian to loan him out as my personal bodyguard. Of course Christian would sooner fire him so I guess I will just look at him from afar. Sawyer lifts me out of the helicopter, which I enjoy more than I anticipated. He tells me to wait there. Just then I see the Police and everything suddenly takes on a different urgency. I watch as Sawyer goes back and forth with some burly man in a bad tie. As they exchange heated words my dad paces like a caged tiger. Something isn't right.

A call comes in and we are whisked in the elevator and the bells chimes to get off on the floor of mom's office. Just then I register how everything is entirely too quiet. We began to turn the corner to mom's office and I hear it...that all too familiar haunting scream...I remember when I first hear that scream I was about four years old and I was so afraid. Over the years whenever I heard him scream like that I always wanted to protect him. I can remember that one night when I was seven years old I ran in his room to help him. When I saw he was asleep and screaming I just wanted to wake him up because I could not stand him being in that much pain. I shook his arm to wake him up and before I knew it he had pushed me across the room. I wasn't hurt really just shaken up but he felt so bad he avoided me a whole two weeks. I kept finding ways to be around him and kept letting him know I was okay and that I loved him. But he blamed himself and wouldn't let me absolve him from blame. Mom had to broker a signed immunity deal just so he'd play with me again. As part of the agreement after the incident I could never enter his room if the door was closed. I never tried to sneak in, not because I was scared but because I did not want my big brother blaming himself for something that was not in his control. Mom always says we all have our demons but Christian carries more than his fair share.

As if a scene out of a movie is unfolding I realize we're running. I know in that instant Christian is in trouble and more than ever he needs me. I am sure mom is there but well he only lets me touch him. Now that I hear him making those same anguished sounds of his youth I know something is defiantly wrong. My big brother needs me and whoever is hurting him will have me to deal with me. Just as I begin to take on my tiger stance I'm stopped dead in my tracks. It can't be, my eyes must be playing tricks on me because...MOMMIE! I won't accept what my eyes are focusing on because I can't be seeing what I am seeing… a security guy has his hand on Christian's back, Christian is on the floor screaming and he's holding mom and mom is… darkness engulfs me but I cannot stop it.


End file.
